Monday, January 30, 2012

It’s one of the best and worst words in the English language. It makes people uncomfortable. It makes people excited. It causes grown men and women to shout at each other, to lose their cool, to forget all decency. It happens behind closed doors. It’s talked about in hushed tones. Gossip magazines make millions off of it.

It’s “sex.”

Once again, it’s taking the media by storm. The controversial topic has recently been brought up in the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times since a mandate requires religious employers to provide health care access to contraception for their employees. In the past, many religious (mostly Catholic, it seems) institutions have refused to supply contraceptives to those who receive health care through the institutions, which include universities, hospitals, and charities.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Last night, President Obama gave his State of the Union address to our nation. Tonight, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker gave his State of the State address. These men might not have much in common...one is a Democrat, the other a Republican. One is black, the other white. However, the pair does have a few things in common, and these speeches came with high stakes.

The content of the speeches themselves were similar in a number of ways. Both men discussed a specific person who had been laid off, but was re-hired at a better job and is now thriving. Both men discussed energy sources - Obama discussing oil; Walker, mining. They touted the job creation within their constituency, and how they aided that progress. They also discussed education - Obama proposed that students must finish high school, or be in school until they turn 18. Walker proposed reading reform to keep kids in school, as well as an accountability scale for passing and failing schools.